A SPATE of kidnappings in the Mozambican capital, alleged police involvement in organised crime, and routine harassment of
foreigners are giving President Filipe Nyusi what he describes as sleepless
nights.

A kidnapping of man this week in the capital,
Maputo, was the ninth this year, after 30 in 2014. Nyusi, who took office in
January in Mozambique, the southern African nation that may become the
third-biggest liquefied natural gas exporter in a decade, has indicated he’s
had enough.

“The news of policemen who join the ranks of the
criminals, particularly when I am told that they have the necessary training so
as not to commit the crimes they have embraced, deprives me of sleep,” he said
when he addressed a parade last month in Maputo marking the 40th anniversary of
the creation of the Mozambican police force.

Nyusi is planning to replace police chief Jorge
Khalau, and will probably tap Jose Weng San, head of the border protection
unit, to take over, the Maputo-based Savana newspaper reported May 29.
Police
spokesman Pedro Cossa declined to comment by phone on Friday.

“Expect changes in the leadership of intelligence
and police units,” Nigel Morgan, executive chairman at risk management agency
Focus Africa, said in an interview in
Maputo. “The real irritant to foreigners is the persistent harassment by
police. It is not just tourists—visiting businessmen and foreign embassies
are tired of them too.”

The harassment of foreigners could not be more
embarrassing for Mozambique, given that it has protested the xenophobic attacks
of its nationals in neighbouring South Africa in recent months. As happened in
2008, one of the most dramatic killings of an immigrant this time was of a
Mozambican.

Missing horns

The harassment is probably dissuading visitors
interested in enjoying the country’s Indian Ocean coastline and turquoise
waters or trying to cash in on the expected gas boom.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Eni SpA are among
companies planning gas projects to exploit fields off northern Mozambique and
may decide to proceed this year. That would trigger development that could cost
as much as $100 billion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates.

Even a record seizure of poached ivory and rhino
horn valued at $19 million on May 12 has turned into an embarrassment. The
force admitted two weeks later that at least 12 of 65 rhino horns have
disappeared from guarded stores.

The police have yet to contradict local media
reports that all the rhino horns have vanished. At least four police officers
have been detained since the bounty started to go missing.

“When policemen are caught in the gangs trafficking
in rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, and various drugs, or facilitate these
same crimes,” Nyusi said at the police parade, according to the state-run AIM
news agency. “I am unable to sleep.”